Conventional tankhead assemblies of locomotive radiator cooling fans are made of steel and consist of a circular base plate, a circular inner ring, a circular outer ring, and a plurality of gussets. The inner and outer rings are welded to a substantially-planar first surface of the base plate. The base plate and the outer ring have a thickness of ⅜-inch, and the base plate has a diameter of 24 or 26 inches. The process of assembling a locomotive radiator cooling fan includes welding non-rotatable steel vanes to the outer ring of the tankhead assembly and bolting a fan-motor stator assembly to the base plate of the tankhead assembly, wherein an annular fan-frame steel ring surrounds and is welded to the vanes, wherein a steel hub assembly, having steel fan blades, is attached to the fan-motor rotor assembly, and wherein the fan-frame ring surrounds, and is spaced apart from, the tips of the fan blades. Motor-low-speed electric wiring passes through a first hole in the outer ring between a pair of gussets and is attached to the fan motor. Motor-high-speed electric wiring passes through a non-diametrically-opposed second hole in the outer ring between a different pair of gussets and is attached to the fan motor. Each of the two wirings is surrounded by a corresponding tube extending radially between the outer ring of the tankhead assembly and the fan-frame ring.
What is needed is an improved locomotive-radiator-cooling-fan tankhead assembly.